Ismaël Koné’s FIFA World Cup might be over, but he is continuing to make an impression on his Canadian teammates.
Fresh off surgery to repair a broken left leg suffered in Thursday’s 6-0 win over Qatar that gave Canada the top spot in group B, Koné returned to the team and was greeted with raucous cheers the second he opened the car door.
The Canadian players and coaching staff clapped and cheered for Koné as he made his way over to the group on crutches and broke into a supportive “Ismaël! Ismaël!” chant as he greeted members of the team.
“Thank you to the staff and medical team at Vancouver General Hospital,” read a message from Canada at the end of a video shared by the federation showing Kone’s warm welcome.
The 24-year-old midfielder was injured early in the second half Thursday when a tackle from Qatar’s Assim Madibo caused Kone to crumple to the turf in obvious pain.
Head coach Jesse Marsch said the whole team knew immediately the injury was serious.
“It happened right in front of the bench. We could all hear it. I knew right away,” Marsch told reporters. “It was right in front of us, and everyone could hear the bone snap.”
Madibo was assessed a red card on the play, putting Qatar down two players after an earlier red that helped power Canada’s six-goal rout. Marsch said Madibo went into Canada’s locker room to apologize to Koné.
Canada celebrated Koné just minutes after he went down Thursday as Nathan Saliba -- Koné’s replacement -- scored to make it 4-0 Canada and held up Koné’s jersey during the aftermath.
“I was just trying to do something for him, and show that it’s not just a game where we move on and people just keep doing our lives,” Saliba said. ”I didn’t feel like celebrating. I was just thinking about my friend.”
Canada went to visit their teammate at Vancouver General Hospital after wrapping up the win, which was their first in World Cup history.
